With Chinese president Xi Jinping tightening his grip on the Communist regime, the richest tycoons in the country seems to be bearing the brunt. In the market selloff, the industrialists in China have lost more than $9 billion, Bloomberg reported.
On Sunday, the 69-year-old leader awarded himself a record-breaking third term and introduced a top governing body packed with his loyalists, thus cementing his place as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
This comes at a time when the Chinese economy witnesses slow growth amid nationwide frustration over continuing lockdowns due to his zero Covid-19 policy. The Chinese official data released on Monday said that the economy grew by 3.9 per cent year on year earlier in the July-September quarter, up from the first quarter by 0.4 per cent, AP reported.
According to the Bloomberg report, Tencent Holdings’ Pony Ma and the nation’s wealthiest person Zhong Shanshan each lost over $2 billion after shares of their companies tumbled following the Chinese Communist Party reshuffle.
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According to the Bloomberg report, Jinping’s move to put his loyalists at the top of leadership ranks has triggered concerns of the Communist regime’s crackdown on wealth and private businesses will continue. Supporters of free enterprises including prime minister Li Keqiang, who was once considered No.2 in the party after the president, was dropped from the seven-member standing committee.
The index which tracks Beijing’s shares in the Hong Kong dipped more than after any CPC congress since inception in 1994.
Before Monday’s slump, Chinese tycoons were right on path for their worse year in a decade, thanks to Jinping’s Covid-19 policies which has hit the economy. According to report, there were 76 Chinese billionaires worth $783 billion among the world’s 500 richest people as compared to 79 richest people worth $1.1 trillion last year.
(With AP, Bloomberg & Reuters inputs)
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